A Tale of Two Costumes
by Ludy Cress
Summary: Gohan, Goten, and Chichi move to New York City, and Gohan must begin high school there. Who will he meet, and will he be able to keep his abilities hidden? A crossover.
1. Chapter 1

A Tale of Two (Ridiculous) Costumes

* * *

Author's Note: Yay, a crossover. I apologize for the shortness of the first chapter, and I promise that the subsequent ones will be longer.

Both the DBZ and SM universes are major AUs.

Disclaimer: 連一點都不是我的。

* * *

"Gohan! Get up _now_, young man!"

The Saiyan sat up in wide-eyed alarm before sighing in relief that his mother was _not_ two feet away from his bed wielding the pan, but in a different room entirely.

_Damn my sensitive hearing and these overly thin walls_.

It had been a week since his mother had moved him and his brother from their quiet home in the wilderness to the small apartment in New York City. She claimed that she was doing it for Gohan's future; after all, where was a better place to get an education besides the most densely populated city in the United States? Gohan could tell that she had ulterior motives too, though. She wasn't half Saiyan like the boys, who required large, vacant areas to train, but a full human who, after so many years of living in the middle of nowhere, longed for contact with other humans aside from the few she knew through Goku. When the boys protested, she told them they could go train in the nearby Canadian wilderness.

Today, though, was his first day of high school.

"Gohan! I mean it!"

"Okay Mom," the teen replied, eager to get to the table, since the smell of breakfast was now wafting in from the kitchen.

He quickly showered and got ready, racing to the table to eat his fill, only to find that Goten had already eaten half of it.

He shoveled what he could in his mouth before Goten could eat anymore of his share, grabbed his lunch, and was promptly shooed out the door by his mother.

"Hurry up and don't be late! Don't be showing off any of your powers either! We want to try and fit in here. You want to go to a great university, don't you? I mean it: be discreet!"

"Okay, okay. I'll try my best." _Jeez, she has huge lungs_.

"You'd better! I love you, sweetie. Have a good first day!"

"Love you too, Mom."

* * *

Gohan soon found himself walking to school, which wasn't too far away. The aromas from the opening pizza joints, Jewish delis, and other eateries seemed to elongate the trek, however.

As he passed a bank just a couple blocks from the school, though, he was startled by several police cars screeching into the vicinity, also accompanied by a yellow jetcopter. A crowd soon formed, apparently eager to witness some action, and Gohan's eyes widened as a small-framed, dark-haired girl jumped out of the jetcopter and ran towards a group of armed thugs who were emerging from the bank.

The girl rammed into several thugs before they had a chance to react, disarming them, then executed a series of kicks and punches that sent them all to the ground. The police then scurried up to the bank to make the arrests.

Slack-jawed, Gohan watched the girl smirk and climb back into her jet copter.

_Wow, her technique is excellent! Her ki level isn't too high, but I'll bet she might be able to give my mom a run for her money. Well, that is, if Mom isn't wielding the pan_…

The crowd began to disperse, and soon Gohan was on his way to school again.

* * *

He stepped onto the campus rather shyly, relieved that no attention was directed towards him. It was, after all, a bit awkward since he'd never attended a school in his life.

While the other students were already sectioning off into groups and chatting with friends about their summer breaks, Gohan searched for the main office, since he hadn't been able to attend the registration a few weeks before.

The confused expression on his face must have been obvious, as he was soon after approached by another student.

"Hey, you look lost," the brown-haired, bespectacled boy mentioned, catching Gohan's attention.

_Thanks for pointing out the obvious_, Gohan thought while nodding and returning him a nervous smile.

"So where are you trying to get to?" the boy continued, now smiling. It wasn't a terribly confident smile, but it was friendly nonetheless.

"The main office, if you wouldn't mind helping me find it."

The slightly shorter boy gave a light chuckle.

"In that case, you might have found it on your own pretty quickly – it's right around this corner."

He let the boy lead him less than twenty feet, and he was then suddenly standing in front of the office.

"Oh. Heh," Gohan gave a small laugh at his mistake before turning back to his new friend. "Hey, thanks for the help."

"No problem – "

"Hey Pete! Over here!"

The boy turned around, then waved to a taller boy with dark, curly hair a ways down the hall.

"See you around," he said, turning back to Gohan for a moment before setting off down the hall.

Gohan nodded, then opened the office door.

* * *

"Name," the woman behind the desk croaked.

"Gohan Son, ma'am," he replied.

After a moment of painfully slow typing, she printed out his schedule and handed it to him.

"Welcome to Midtown High School, Mr. Son."

* * *

End note: Onwards to the next chapter.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: The first day at school!

Disclaimer: Sooo not mine.

* * *

Gohan nervously entered the classroom and stood near the door. The other students were taking seats next to their friends as they awaited the teacher's arrival.

Gohan was about to take a quick seat near where he was standing when a familiar voice spoke up:

"Well, that was quick."

He turned around to face the helpful boy from earlier and his curly-haired friend from the hall.

"Sorry I forgot to introduce myself earlier," the boy continued, extending his hand. "I'm Peter Parker."

"Gohan Son," he replied, returning the shake.

Peter then turned to his friend to introduce him as well.

"This is Harry Osborn."

Gohan and Harry subsequently shook hands.

"Well let's sit somewhere before all the good seats are taken," Harry motioned, and the three of them took some places towards the back left of the classroom.

Moments later, a waif-like blonde girl skipped in, dragging two blonde, muscled jocks behind her.

She spotted Peter and Harry and immediately placed herself in the desk in front of Peter, who was between Harry and Gohan. The two jocks sat on either side of her.

"Hellooo Petey and Harry! How were your summer vacations?" she giggled.

"Fine Erasa, just wonderful," the two boys replied, obviously feeling a bit smothered by her in-the-face cheerfulness.

"Who's your new friend?" she directed her attention at Gohan, to his horror.

"This is Gohan," Peter fortunately answered for him. "He's new this year."

The long-haired jock chuckled.

"Look Flash, High-class Harry and Puny Parker finally found a little cohort."

"Sharpener, stop it!" Erasa huffed. "That's not nice at all!"

"Ha, looks like it Sharp. Geeky Gohan, alright," the short-haired one retorted.

Gohan raised an eyebrow. _Wow, they sure make judgments quickly here_…

Erasa attempted to make a mad-face, but due to her happy nature, was not very successful. Slapping Flash ineffectively on the arm, she said:

"You stop it right now! He's not geeky! I think he's cute!"

This made both Sharpener and Flash scratch their heads in confusion, and Gohan blushed a bright red.

All confusion, however, was interrupted by an obtrusive –

"Ahem!"

All eyes looked up, though not far up, for she was not terribly tall, at a scowling, pig-tailed girl. Gohan went wide-eyed.

_The girl from the bank robbery!_

"Hi Videl!" Erasa chirped, her smile renewed.

Videl flashed her a quick smile, which turned out looking more like a smirk.

"Hi Erasa. Mary Jane and I were planning on sitting next to you, but it looks as if – " her scowl returned as she looked at Flash and Sharpener. "There are two _apes_ taking up our seats."

A redheaded girl they hadn't noticed before waved at the crowd and gave a nervous chuckle:

"Hi Erasa, Pete, Harry, uh, new guy, and, uh…apes…"

"MJ!" Erasa leapt up to give her friend a hug, while Videl pulled the two jocks unceremoniously from their seats and sat them down in the row ahead. Videl then took the seat to Erasa's left, placing herself directly in front of Gohan, leaving the seat in front of Harry for Mary Jane.

Gohan stared at the back of Videl's head for a moment, trying to work up enough courage to talk to her about the robbery.

_Jeez, why is this girl so intimidating?_

Finally pulling himself together, he reached out and tapped her on the shoulder.

She immediately whipped around, the earlier scowl still present on her face.

"Yes?"

He backed up in his seat, taken aback by her abrupt nature.

"Hi, uh…your name's Videl, right?" He stuck out his hand to shake, "Um, hi, I'm Gohan."

She didn't take his hand, but the scowling expression slowly disappeared and confusion replaced it.

_Doesn't he know who I am?_

"I, uh, saw you on my way to school earlier. At the bank," he continued after having given up on the handshake. "I saw you beat up those thugs. You were incredible! Your technique is really something!"

Still confused, Videl opened her mouth to respond, but before any words came out, Sharpener intervened:

"Of course she's incredible; she's the daughter of the Champ!"

"What's a geek like him doing commenting on technique anyway?" Flash muttered from next to Sharpener.

Gohan chose to ignore Flash and focus on Sharpener's comment.

"I'm sorry, the…Champ? Who's that?"

The eyes of everyone he had met thus far, as well as several other students sitting around him, were suddenly focused on him, and many jaws dropped to the floor.

"Hercule Satan!" Sharpener was almost livid.

Gohan paused for a moment, obviously deep in thought.

_Hercule Satan? Where have I heard that be- _Oh_. I remember now. He was that funny looking guy who took my credit for Cell._

"Oh _that_ Hercule Satan," he chuckled nervously, just now beginning to notice the shocked stares. He turned back to Videl, "Wow, I would have never guessed you're related to him. You look nothing alike!"

It was Videl's turn to go slack-jawed.

_He…he didn't know I was related to my father? That means he thought I was great on my own without his influence! An-and he wasn't trying to hit on me…he was just being genuine…_

A relieved and almost thankful smile washed onto her face, and she looked up, hoping to meet Gohan's eyes, but he was instead beginning to turn a deep shade of red as he looked around at the horrified expressions of his peers.

He scratched the back of his neck nervously.

_Wow, I just made a complete fool out of myself, didn't I?_

"Where the hell are you from? Antarctica?" Flash interjected.

"My family actually, uh, just moved here from the Mount Paozu area a week ago."

"Sounds like he's been living his life underneath a rock- "

"Sharpener, that's enough," Videl whipped around and glared at the jock, who immediately obeyed her, though he was confused as to why she was getting touchy about the issue.

The students, however, were forced to let go of the subject as the teacher had just stepped into the classroom.

"Good morning seniors. Welcome back to school," he said rather unenthusiastically. "I'm Mr. Dahbien and I'll be teaching your calculus class this year."

And so classes passed rather uneventfully, and soon it was the last five minutes of the class before lunch.

"Can everyone wake up for a moment please," the teacher called out from the front of the classroom. "I have an announcement."

A few students lifted their heads, but many remained fast asleep.

"This Friday we'll be taking a trip to a science exhibition featuring arachnids. The buses will meet at the front of the school at 8 AM sharp. I expect you all to go, and those of you who…didn't catch this announcement...will be reminded later this week. You are excused to go to lunch."

Gohan, Harry, and Peter rose and filed out of the classroom.

"Wow, this trip sounds pretty interesting," Peter commented on the way to their lockers.

Gohan nodded in reply, and Harry made a face: arachnids were not exactly his cup of tea.

* * *

Videl took a seat next to MJ and Erasa at a large picnic table, which was already covered with most of the football team. Sharpener sat down next to her, and received a swift punch in the stomach when he tried to put his arm around her.

She began to open her lunch, and noticed Peter, Harry, and Gohan taking seats at a table a ways away from theirs in the courtyard. Slightly regretfully, she turned back to her food.

Harry had a rich father too, so he never really bugged her about life with "the Champ," Peter always seemed far too caught up in his own little science world to care about her personal life, and this new guy, Gohan, had been the first person to ever pay her a compliment about her fighting prowess without knowledge of her father, even if it was really weird that he didn't recognize even her father's _name_ at first.

_So why am I not sitting over there with them then?_

She sighed. MJ and Erasa were too good of friends to leave, even though they hung out with the jocks who couldn't seem to get enough out of fawning over her father. She'd known them both since elementary school and, sure, the three of them had differing interests, but they had always treated her the same: like a regular person. They were the only people she knew well enough and long enough to confide in.

She was pulled from her thoughts by MJ tapping her shoulder.

"Whoa, Videl, look!"

Videl followed MJ's finger and saw that she was pointing at Gohan. He had just decapsulated his lunch, and it was taking up quite a bit of space on the table.

"Jeezus, that's a lot of food," she replied, noticing that Harry and Peter were also very shocked by the amount. "Is he going to eat all that?"

Shortly afterwards, however, Gohan had consumed it all, much to the shock of everyone watching. Peter and Harry didn't seem quite as horrified though, as Gohan had apparently given them a short excuse as to why he was eating so much.

"Dude, what a freak," Flash whispered to Sharpener next to him, then smirking, picked up an apple from his lunch. "I'll show him how we make freaks welcome here. It'll be fun to watch him either duck like mad or get hit."

Sharpener returned a laugh as Flash stood up, facing Gohan's direction.

"Hey Gohan," he tauntingly called out, causing the Saiyan to look up from his conversation. "Still hungry?"

Videl realized what was about to happen and jumped up to stop Flash, but it was too late. He had released the apple from his grip, and she could only watch in anger as it hurled across the courtyard towards its target.

Gohan, however, didn't really feel that an apple was much of a threat, so he remained planted in his seat. When it was about a foot away from his face, he finally brought his hand up to meet with the apple, catching it perfectly, much to the shock of the students at Videl's table, and those at his own table. He looked at it for a moment, then shrugged his shoulders and turned back towards his gaping companions, taking a bite out of the fruit in the process.

Flash also gaped for several moments, trying to make sense of how he had tried to pick on the new guy, but ended up embarrassing himself. Finally he sat back down, scowling.

_No nerd makes a fool out of me!_

"Maybe you should recruit him for the baseball team in the spring," Mary Jane mused from a few seats down.

* * *

End note: Lawl. "Da bian" (dahbien) means poop in Mandarin.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: An exciting weekend.

Disclaimer: itz nuut myn cuz i's canuut spel goohanz.

* * *

Friday didn't come too soon for the students, and they soon found themselves observing glass tanks full of "creepy-crawlies," as Erasa put it.

Peter gazed into the tanks, admiring the silent creatures with his camera ready to take photos for the school newspaper. He occasionally made a comment to Gohan, who seemed to be the only other person interested in the exhibit.

"Hey, look at these ones," he motioned to the taller boy. "They've been genetically altered."

Gohan came over to the tanks and peered in.

"Take a picture of that purple one. People are usually attracted to bright colors."

He then began to examine a nearby tank while Peter poised himself to take the picture.

As he was adjusting the zoom, though, a small spider that had escaped from its tank slowly glided down onto his hand from a web it had constructed above.

Right before he took the picture, he felt a sharp pang on his hand that almost caused him to drop his camera. He immediately rubbed his hand on his jeans to rid himself of any stinging remnants, effectively crushing the small spider in the process.

He repositioned his camera and, to his annoyance, had to readjust the zoom.

After snapping the photo, he caught up to Gohan, who was inspecting a tank with a scorpion.

Peter rubbed his temples. He was beginning to feel a headache coming on.

* * *

Peter's condition had grown steadily worse throughout the time at the exhibit, and by the time he arrived at his suburban home, he was nauseous and his muscles were cramping.

He dragged himself into the kitchen where his Aunt May and Uncle Ben were waiting for him.

"How was the trip, dear?" Aunt May inquired, then paused, taking a closer look at him. "Goodness you look awful!"

"Yeah, I feel awful too," Peter replied, forcing a slight smile. "I just want to take some Tylenol and go to bed."

"Of course, Pete," Uncle Ben replied, taking the pills out of the cabinet for him and filling a glass of water.

Peter eagerly accepted the medication, then pulled himself upstairs and into bed to try to sleep it off.

* * *

Saturday morning was sunny, and Peter awoke rather early, since he had turned in early as well.

_Whoa, definitely some weird dreams…all about spiders or something_…

Rubbing his eyes, he sat up in bed and reached for his glasses on the table. He yawned and slipped them on, opening his eyes to look upon the familiar surroundings of his room.

It was blurry.

He blinked, and when that didn't clear his vision, he slowly slid his glasses off, revealing that his vision had miraculously become impeccable.

He gaped for a moment, then jumped out of bed and ran to the mirror.

He didn't look very different, but he definitely felt it. Pulling off his shirt, his jaw dropped.

_Holy…I grew muscles overnight! Could this have been from that illness?_

He looked at his hand, remembering the bite he received the day before that caused him to get sick. It was gone.

He quickly put on a clean shirt and pants and began to look for a clean pair of socks. They always seemed to be disappearing.

He finally spotted one in a corner behind his desk, so he leaned over and extended his hand to reach it.

A sticky, white substance shot out of his wrist and attached itself to the socks, immediately solidifying into a sort of thread.

Peter gasped and backed up terrified into the wall. Paling, he looked at his hands.

_What the hell was that?_

He audibly gulped and tried to work up enough courage to try it again.

Extending his hand, he pointed his finger at the closet doorknob.

Nothing happened.

He shook his hand and tried again. Still nothing.

Glaring at his hand now, he began trying different hand positions.

Finally a stream of the substance shot out of his wrist, much to his shock, and attached itself to the doorknob with a slam.

"It…it's like a web…"

"Peter?" he vaguely heard Aunt May call from downstairs. "Is everything alright up there?"

He shook his head to bring himself out of his shock and daze before replying.

"Yeah, I'll be down in a second!"

He grabbed his socks and put them and his shoes on before heading downstairs.

"Are you feeling any better dear?" she asked when he entered the kitchen.

"Much better!" He gave her a reassuring smile while grabbing some toast. "I, uh, have some stuff I need to do today, so I'll be back later."

"Oh," she averted her eyes for a moment, obviously concerned for him. "Um, alright Peter. Just don't stay out too late."

"Don't worry Aunt May!"

He was soon out the door.

"Now to test out these new…powers."

* * *

Later that evening, he paused in an abandoned alleyway to catch his breath. He'd been testing himself pretty vigorously.

Although he wasn't able to fully control his new powers yet, he had at least found out what they were: the web that shot from his wrists, increased strength, agility, and reflexes, heightened senses, and the ability to scale walls like a spider. He wasn't exactly comfortable with any of it yet.

As he leaned against the wall, a piece of paper blew past his feet. Catching it, he read the title.

**Wrestling Tournament Next Weekend! Come Test Yourself Against the Pros!**

_Test myself…that's it! That's exactly what I need to do!_ A smile began to form on his lips. _I'll need a costume though, and a name._

* * *

On Sunday morning, Gohan was quietly finishing up his homework for the weekend, a write-up on what he learned at the arachnid exhibition, when he distantly heard the sound of police sirens.

He went to the window and looked out at the street fifteen stories below, just in time to watch the cops zoom by. A rumbling sound from above came into his audible vicinity and he looked up to see Videl's yellow jetcopter flying past. Gunshots could also be heard in the distance.

He watched the jetcopter soar by with a little concern.

_That looks like it might be a bit dangerous_…

Without hesitation, he leapt from the window and inconspicuously followed.

* * *

He landed on the roof of a building overlooking the crime.

Videl had already started pounding away at the criminals, and she looked as if she wouldn't be needing any assistance. He hovered a foot in the air, preparing to take off, but hesitated when a glint of silver caught his eye.

Peering down at the scene, his eyes widened as one of the criminals Videl had thought she knocked out, was climbing back to his feet and pulling a revolver out of his jacket. The crime fighter was too busy with an unreasonably large thug to notice.

_Uh-oh. Looks like she's got some trouble. I guess some intervention will be necessary after all. I'd better not let her see me though: might hurt her pride._

His eyes narrowed at the thug as he devised a way to remain invisible to human eyes. At least to the eyes of all but a select few trained humans.

* * *

Videl hit the large thug with a powerful punch that finally sent him into unconsciousness, then turned around to head back to the police cars.

She instead found herself face to face with a gun.

He was too far away for her to kick the gun out of his hands before he had time to shoot, but also too close to miss.

She felt a cold sweat begin to form on her face.

XXX

_The zanzoken technique! That's it!_

Gohan smirked, ascended to super Saiyan, and instantly blurred out of visibility from the rooftop. He headed straight for the gun-wielding criminal at super speed, and upon arriving at him, changed his flight path to straight up, chopping the gun and the criminal's neck softly on the way, rendering him unconscious, then landing silently back on the roof. All that had been seen was a faint golden flash when he changed his angle so sharply.

He peered back down at the scene, assuring himself that Videl was safe. Once confirmed, he noted that there was no further danger in the area, and took off for home.

On the way back, a thought occurred to him:

_If she's regularly getting herself into trouble like that, maybe there's some way I could help out more... I wouldn't want to expose myself though - what just happened was a little risky. Maybe I could get a costume..._

_On a better note though, maybe Mom's finished with lunch. I'm starved!_

* * *

Videl raised a puzzled eyebrow.

A second ago, she'd been at gunpoint, but the criminal just seemed to have suddenly dropped dead as a weird gold blur flashed.

_Unconscious_, she corrected herself. _Whatever_.

She approached the fallen criminal rather cautiously and peered down at him.

Her eyes widened and she backed up several steps, trembling renewed.

He of course wasn't dead, but somehow, the thug's collarbone had been visibly broken and a large bruise was beginning to form. The gun, which had landed next to him, had been folded in half.

Captain Stacey caught her from behind in her retreat.

"Videl, what just happened? How did - Holy…"

He gasped as he too saw what had happened to the criminal, apparently out of the blue.

* * *

End note: Chapters will begin to slow down soon, because I'm nearing the end of everything I'd written before making my account. If you get bored of waiting, feel free to browse my other stories. Also, have a look at my friend S.T.D.'s writing – she hasn't updated in a while, but maybe some reviews will motivate her. (Go to my profile and click on my favorite author.)

Reviews motivate me too.


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